Boxing

Johnny Tapia would have turned 50 next May, and I have no doubt that had he still been alive, he’d be begging for just one more fight.

Boxing saved the lives of countless fighters over the years, but none moreso than Tapia. He lived a haunted, loving, tragic and amazing life, dying at the way-too-young age of 45 in 2012 before he could see the moment that made most of his sacrifices worthwhile.

Tapia’s selection is heart-rending for so many. He touched so many lives in so many ways, and despite being one of the toughest men on the planet, he was as needy as a child.

This is a guy who as an 8-year-old witnessed the rape and murder of his mother. It would haunt him until the end of his days. He never knew his father, who was murdered while his mother was pregnant with him.

The others all have qualities that earned them their place among the boxing immortals.

If there’s one thing that Floyd Mayweather wants you to understand more than anything else, it’s that he doesn’t have to fight for money ever again.

The retired pound-for-pound boxing king’s name has been rumored to be in talks to come out of his retirement for a massive fight. Some rumors have him tied to UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor while others link him to a return bout with Manny Pacquiao. Either fight would surely rake in a windfall of money.

However, an Instagram post by Mayweather suggests that the 49-0 fighter is “happily retired” and his proof came in the form of a $100 million dollar check.

“Gotta love these backseat drivers so worried about another man’s legacy instead of trying to write their own,” Mayweather posted in response to the rumors about his return to the ring. “Ultimately, I will always have the last laugh. This is just one of my many checks, a cool $100,000,000.00 that I still have every dime of.”

Essentially, Mayweather is responding to everyone who has suggested that he’ll fight again for the money. But, as of right now, Mayweather isn’t interested and has more than enough money to hold him over without a return to the ring.

President-elect Donald Trump has long dabbled in the fight business. His hotel casinos have sponsored numerous fights and he’s had a long relationship with former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.

Last year, Trump and his wife, Melania, attended the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Apparently, the President-elect struck up a friendship with the superstar boxer. While he is busy hiring members of his administration, Trump took time Wednesday to pose for a photo with his son, Donald Jr., and Mayweather.

Retired boxer Floyd Mayweather has always professed to be a proud American first above everything else. And with the growing number of black people dying at the hands of police, the undefeated former champion decided to give his two cents on the present state of affairs in at a recent Mayweather Promotions event.

Initially, the conversation started off about boxing and why boxers aren’t drawing the numbers like they used to. But Mayweather took it upon himself to address what is going on between blacks and the police.

“I’m here to say all lives matter,” Mayweather said. “You know, a lot of times, we get stuck, and we are followers. When you hear one person say, ‘black lives matter,’ or ‘blue lives matter,’ all lives matter.”

Mayweather refuses to place the blame on the police, despite a number of officer-involved incidents this year.

“It’s not right what is going on in this world on both sides,” Mayweather said. “What I learned from boxing and what everyone can take in real life is to follow directions, follow order. Don’t give nobody a hard time.”

The past couple of weeks in the life of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has been nothing short of bizarre. From his curious postponement of his October 29 rematch with Wladimir Klitschko due to being declared “medically unfit” by his manager to failing a Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) conducted drug test after being flagged for cocaine that puts his WBO, IBF, and WBC titles he won after beating Klitschko in jeopardy, the 29-year-old’s career has been trapped in a downward spiral.

The unbeaten and bombastic British fighter anted up further on the mayhem Tuesday morning when he abruptly retired from the sport with an expletive-laced tweet.

“Boxing is the saddest thing I ever took part in,” Fury tweeted. “All a pile of [expletive], I’m the greatest, & I’m also retired, so go suck a [expletive], happy days.”

The sudden retirement in the wake of a tumultuous week amassed over 25,000 retweets and turned the boxing world upside down.

What the future holds for Fury is anyone’s guess. But rest assured that this is far from over.

The No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world had his hands full, but ultimately accomplished something his hero and fellow countryman Alexis Arguello couldn’t do by winning a world title in his fourth weight class as Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (46-0, 38 KOs) defeated Carlos Cuadras (35-1-1, 27 KOs) by unanimous decision for the WBC super flyweight title.

It was a sensational fight, full of back-and-forth action that may have caught many fans at The Forum by surprise considering that Gonzalez is known for overwhelming his opponents with his high octane offense and thudding power shots. That was certainly not the case on Saturday as Cuadras made the fight more competitive than anticipated by being crafty and showing off his athleticism.

“It was a very difficult fight,” Gonzalez said, with swelling under both eyes. “This was the most difficult fight that I’ve had in my career.”

Although the Nicaraguan made history and cemented his place in boxing’s hall of fame, the story of the fight was Cuadras’ heart and ability to stay in the fight while Gonzalez was unable to detonate one of those thunderous punches to end the night early.